The Wild Side

Of mountain living that is. In the short period of time since we've lived in the foothills, we have seen quite a variety of wildlife. Just three days after moving I saw my first bear. That surprised me because we had friends that lived here for 3 years and never saw one. A couple of weeks ago, I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep when I heard what sounded like my dog scratching at paper. I got up to investigate, and instead found a mama bear and her cub scaling the tree outside our bedroom window. So now I've seen three!

It's hard to make out, but those are her glowing eyes in the middle. The cub's eyes can be seen near the top. One of them at least.

We have also seen countless deer, and the wildflowers on our property more than make up for the fact that I suck at keeping planted flowers alive and well. I don't even try anymore.

A sampling of our many wildflowers

One animal I had not yet seen though was an elk. They are pretty common around this area, but so far none on our property. Yesterday Gilbert was whining to go out on the deck. I decided to bring him downstairs to let him out into the yard instead. But when I got to the door, I saw out of the corner of my eye the biggest rack of antlers. I quickly realized that it was an elk. Finally! I ran upstairs and grabbed my camera and brought Noah onto the deck to watch. He was content to munch grass while we oohed and aahed. Such a majestic creature! Noah made the moment pretty funny by commenting, "That elk is so horny!" Yes, he has big antlers. :)

Oh, hello.

And because I'm silly and hopeful, I looked up the Native American beliefs about elk. They represent love, strength, and stamina. Sending all of that and more to you, my little embryo! Surely the elk showed up to bestow all of that, right?